Mrs. America movie review & film summary (2020)

So sure, she’s not Heisenberg. Yet in the hands of showrunner Dahvi Waller and actor Cate Blanchett, she’s a figure who can be every bit as infuriating and even a bit terrifying. Schlafly is ostensibly the subject here, and Blanchett’s performance is masterful, but “Mrs. America” is an ensemble piece in which its central figure functions as an event—that uncanny calm that comes before a tornado begins to form. This is the story of the fight to pass (or, depending on your perspective, stop) the passing of the Equal Rights Amendment, as seen through the eyes of a group of second-wave feminists on one side and a group of proud housewives on the other, the latter spurred to action by Schlafly. And it’s the story of an expert on national defense who’s asked to take notes in a meeting because she’s the only woman in the group. The waves forms, the air grows uncannily still, and Phyllis Schlafly happens to the United States.

That’s the moment that kicks off “Mrs. America” in earnest. (It’s also a sort of spiritual twin to the series’ humdinger of a final shot, but you’ll need to watch through to see what I mean.) One of the sharpest, most empathetic aspects of the miniseries is its readiness to illustrate the ways in which the intelligent, driven Schlafly was discriminated against. In this fictional telling, she is belittled, dismissed, ignored, harassed, and condescended to, but nevertheless, she persists. That is, until she’s ignored in that meeting, one in which she’s the most expert authority. Yet she’s only asked about the E.R.A. (a “woman’s issue”) before she’s consigned to the role of taking minutes. And then she remembers a friend, Alice (the unsurprisingly excellent Sarah Paulson), who worries that the passage of the E.R.A. will mean her daughters can be drafted and alimony and child support will be made illegal, and who urged Phyllis to do something about it. And so she pivots, leaning into her own prejudices and sense of superiority to make herself the ultimate conservative woman—one all the men will listen to because she’s saying what they want to hear and giving them the cover they need to vote like it’s the stone age.

The problem is that few, if any, of her arguments are based in fact. This leads the “libbers” to write her off as a quack, dismissive of the massive power of her lies, conspiracy theories, and nightmare scenarios. (Sound familiar?) Yet they all eventually come around to the threat posed by Schlafly, Alice, and the rest of STOP ERA (“stop taking our privileges”). Among the first to take her seriously is Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman, in fine form), a feminist of towering stature whose insecurities and caustic personality often put her at odds with the savvy, powerful Bella Abzug (the great Margo Martindale). Bella often squares off against Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Abuba, also terrific), unable to understand why the notion that Chisholm’s historic run for President was merely symbolic would be hugely frustrating and hurtful to the Congresswoman. And though Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne, expertly cast—honestly, they’re all terrific) is one of Chisholm’s staunchest supporters, her own blind spots rise up with great frequency, often to the detriment of the brilliant women of color in her orbit.

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